oh god loud
:lol:
Seriously, the first thing you notice about this amp is that it is a whole new kind of loud. It makes my JCM800 sound restrained and my MkIII sound teeny. This one is a 1972ish Magnavox that is still set up for 7027s so there's at least 120 watts available RMS, and peaks can allegedly be something ridiculous like 250 watts. Having the volume on 3 is really, really loud, like, the point at which my Mark III stops getting much louder; 5 is mind-altering. There's a suggested setting in the manual where the volume goes on 10, which I think must be meant as a joke. There's still no significant compression happening at 5 and I seriously can't imagine how you could play with this thing past 5 unless you are literally in a stadium where you can stand 30 feet away from the cab (which, realistically, is what it was meant for--playing big venues with no PA.)
What all this power gives you is just a goofy amount of dynamics and headroom-- I'll be noodling along playing single-note and legato stuff and then when I hit a chord it's this humungous BOOOOOM.
Tonally there's a lot available and someone put a lot of thought into this-- the tone controls are pretty much full-range though unless you are playing a very twangy single-coil you'll never need the bass past noon. Treble seems to control the headroom a lot, less treble will compress the sound a little. Mid becomes an overdrive past noon. There's a lot of dirt to be had in this amp if you can handle the volume, though the drive you get is much better for rhythm (it's a really thick, 'swirling' sort of sound) than leads which always sound a little fuzzy. Cleaner leads sound better.
The reverb is an endless cavern compared to a Mark III and has tons of character but is quite noisy-- this is apparently an issue in the circuit as designed, which is why there's actually a way to cut the reverb circuit out completely by pushing in the 'reverb key' on the back of the amp.
It seems very picky about guitars and pickups-- my '82 Yamaha SG, which is a 12-pound slab of mahogany with thick sustain for days that sounds like God through any Mesa or Marshall, just sounds kind of dull and lifeless through the Ampeg. My '80ish Yamaki Onyx (basically a Washburn Hawk) which is sort of springy, bright, and nasal through many amps sounds absolutely amazing, I think because it can really take advantage of the dynamic range available.
I'm trying to get some clips happening over the next few days. I don't know how long I'm gonna hold onto this one because no matter how awesome it sounds it's literally too loud to be useful in any of my current playing situations.
:lol:
Seriously, the first thing you notice about this amp is that it is a whole new kind of loud. It makes my JCM800 sound restrained and my MkIII sound teeny. This one is a 1972ish Magnavox that is still set up for 7027s so there's at least 120 watts available RMS, and peaks can allegedly be something ridiculous like 250 watts. Having the volume on 3 is really, really loud, like, the point at which my Mark III stops getting much louder; 5 is mind-altering. There's a suggested setting in the manual where the volume goes on 10, which I think must be meant as a joke. There's still no significant compression happening at 5 and I seriously can't imagine how you could play with this thing past 5 unless you are literally in a stadium where you can stand 30 feet away from the cab (which, realistically, is what it was meant for--playing big venues with no PA.)
What all this power gives you is just a goofy amount of dynamics and headroom-- I'll be noodling along playing single-note and legato stuff and then when I hit a chord it's this humungous BOOOOOM.
Tonally there's a lot available and someone put a lot of thought into this-- the tone controls are pretty much full-range though unless you are playing a very twangy single-coil you'll never need the bass past noon. Treble seems to control the headroom a lot, less treble will compress the sound a little. Mid becomes an overdrive past noon. There's a lot of dirt to be had in this amp if you can handle the volume, though the drive you get is much better for rhythm (it's a really thick, 'swirling' sort of sound) than leads which always sound a little fuzzy. Cleaner leads sound better.
The reverb is an endless cavern compared to a Mark III and has tons of character but is quite noisy-- this is apparently an issue in the circuit as designed, which is why there's actually a way to cut the reverb circuit out completely by pushing in the 'reverb key' on the back of the amp.
It seems very picky about guitars and pickups-- my '82 Yamaha SG, which is a 12-pound slab of mahogany with thick sustain for days that sounds like God through any Mesa or Marshall, just sounds kind of dull and lifeless through the Ampeg. My '80ish Yamaki Onyx (basically a Washburn Hawk) which is sort of springy, bright, and nasal through many amps sounds absolutely amazing, I think because it can really take advantage of the dynamic range available.
I'm trying to get some clips happening over the next few days. I don't know how long I'm gonna hold onto this one because no matter how awesome it sounds it's literally too loud to be useful in any of my current playing situations.
My very first tube amp was an old Ampeg V4. 
